THE TOHUNGA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11056, 23 August 1907, Page 7

THE TOHUNGA.

MAORI AND EUROPEAN. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL DEBATE. (From our Parliamentary Reporter.) . WELLINGTON, this day. The Government's measure aiming at the punishment of "certain designing persons commonly known ns tohunga_, who practice on the supemtition of, and credulity of, the Maori people by pretending to possess supernatural powers," was fully discussed yesterday by the Legislative Council. The views expressed Avere generally m favor of such legislation, especially if it would apply to a multitude of white tohungas who are said to flourish m the community. In moving the second reading of the Tohunga Suppression Bill the Hon. Dr. Findlay (Attorney-General) said the present law was not sufficient to meet some of the worst cases of tohungaism which had occurred during the last iew months. Maori Councils had nower to make bylaws dealing with tohungas, but m practice tliis had been found to be ineffective. He asked the Council to take the assurance of the Native 'tliat tohungaism was an "evil among many of the North Island. Natives, and that it caused a retrograde movement m the Native race, instead of helping the civilising influences which were at work. A Bill such as the one under notice was only a palliative not a terrorism, but scepticism was the method by which the tohungas would be forced to disappear. Tlie' Maori belief iri the' mystic was not to be eradicated merely by legislation. Even after knowledge superstition remained. It was so wii-h. the white race. But the Bill would greatly cheijk, the existence of charlatanry, which seemed .to be flourishing among; the Maoris. He called attention to tlie clause by wliich the permission of tkd Native- Minister 'was necessary before a prosecution- would be undertaken, so that the Bill would not be capable of being made an ; instrument of-, oppression. It was brought forward 1 simply m the hope of. preventing. the practice of superstition, commori enough among the Maoris, and abundantly common among ourselves. (Hear,, hear.) ■,'■• ■ The. Hon. Wiremu Pere, with a preliminary expression of agreement with the: Bill/ went on' to describe ..various cases of tohun_as7 They, -included', tohun?gas .who^ really trifed to-do', some good^ their patients when they were .n|,;,apd; others who had similar- aims, but the ui^ te'rior. object ""either of coveting, the Maoris greenstone heirlooms; .or a wife; -' Wi" Pere, as reported elsewhere, then proceeds ed to relate his dealings, with Rua. ; " EUROPEAN SUPERSTITION. The ' Hon. H. Scotland characterised the Bill as being too lukewarm to put down the miserable superstitions which existed. It should be extended to ; coyer tohungas of the white race, clairvoyants, thought readers, faith healers, fortunetellers, and people who ran totalisators. He knew of many educated ladies going, to fortune-tellers, believing that what was told them would come true. How many children owed their death to "faith healers?" * The Bill would not reduce the tohunga worship a whit, because ty' was too mild. He could find many farmers in' the United Kingdom whb paid blackmail to old men to protect their cattle from witchcraft The Hon. J. Rigg surmised that although the H on jWi ** ere wa^ against bad tohungas, he was- m layer of .what he; Characterised as ."good tohungas." Hyp : -notic suggestions as a means' of • treStirtg nervous -diseases had gone beyond thY empirical .stage> -arid there was ho reason why 'a Maori-should nut possess ; this power, so that tlie Council was treading upon delicate ground. There were mystics t and frauds among tohungas, and' also persons who were genuine healers of diseases. The latter were protected by tlie power to 'initiate prosecutions being left with the Native; Minister. We fehould hot too hurriedly condemn what we did not understand. He firmly believed we were ori the eve of the discovery of a new force, the fringe of which was touched by clairvoyance. Having lived close to a for-tune-teller for some time, he had been amazed at the extent to which fortunetelling had developed,, and he thought we should place our own house in' order be : fore interfering with the domestic economy of the Maori vi'hare. Too. much notice was taken of Rua/ who was 1 - never likely to exercise the power of previous ilaori prophets. However, as the Bill was permissive, he would vote for it. Tho Hon. Ti Keiiv suggested that the Europeans had been neglectful of the education of the Maori so that there was no wonder the race was superstitious. He supported the Bill, because it was permissive. The Hon. Dr. Collins said that from a medical point of view, and also ior the sake of the Maori, he would support the Bill. Some years ago he had come acrossa case where the lives of two young Maoris were sacrificed through tohungaism. X'he Maori people had displayed remarkable adaptability, and the" progress of education, coupled with the example of educated Maoris, and the effect of the Bill, would make a great improvement. He supposed the "designing persons" referred to by the Bill included white persons if they practised upon the credulity of the Natives. Tlie most blatant tohunga of to-day was John Alexander Dowie. No doubt there was a good deal m hypnotism, while the power of suggestion went ,ori amongst us every day, but the curative power of hypnotism m the disease was not quite so certain. If any person possessed the power of hypnotic suggestion, he liad only to cure a condition which showed nothing m the organisms of tbe body after death, and there was ample opportunity for them m. all the mental hospitals of the world. The Hon. J. Rigg : It has cured organio heart disease. Tlie Hon. Dr., Collins : If it' has I did not know it. ....... i ' Tlie Hon. S. T. George declared that the dictionary, definitiori of "tohunga" was wide enough to cover all skilled persons, the Cabinet for "example. Had riot the Cabinet sent its "medicine man" to Oamaru to produce rain? . The Hon. W. W. McCordle said that m the King Country tohungas had taken youths iri a raging fever and put them into a pool. of water. This was the sort of thing which the Bill ought to put down. What* was urgently wanted was for a Maori medical man to go amongst the Natives, teaching them cleanliness m their dwellings and a few safe methods of dealing with their sick. He thought tlie suggestion that there was something superior m tohungaism would have a very dangerous effect upon the minds of the Maori people. The Hon. O. Samuel declared himself satisfied with the necessity for the measure, but was uncertain whether the Bill adequately dealt with the tohunga. The Bill should be made temporary m its nature, because m the course of a year or two the necessity for it would then have disappeared. We were fortunate m having as a Native Minister one who knew the Maori, which, was a guarantee that the Act would not be abused. The Hon. George Jones remarked that l»e did not mind the ridicule of rain-mak-ing experiments, so long as Oamaru got its rain. There had been a shower of rain every explosion. The Hon. S. George : You are the biggest tohunga of the lot. The Hon. H. Feldwick spoke of the necessity for defining the meaning of tohunga. The Hons. G. J. Smith aud C. Louisson supported the Bill. The debate was adjourned at 4.50 p.m.